A snake got in my brooder last night!

[Pumpkinpup]

This morning I heard a commotion in my brooder hut and, upon inspecting, discovered a 5 and a half foot long chicken snake! It had already eaten 7 chicks. I have a divided brooder with one hen and babies in each side. It got all but one of my orpingtons chicks and had moved over to the other side and started on my largecochin hens brood before I found him. I'm just sick!

I usually do not kill snakes but this one did not escape my rath!

 

[LindseyM12]

I am SO sorry!

 

[dawg53]

I feel your pain, I've had it happen to me. When snakes run out of rodents, they go for chickens. I've noticed that the chicken snakes (yellow rat snakes here) are really aggressive going after chicks/chickens. I've relocated them in the woods before, but they always come back. Then they meet the shovel.

 

[Pumpkinpup]

Quote:
The worst part of all this is that I have a abundance of rats and mice around here for them to feed on. He had no business in my brooder. I am the kind of person who hates to kill a snake but in this case I felt he would have surely returned so I used the shovel!

 

[ranchhand]

We have had NINE large yellow rat snakes so far this year. We take them many miles away. Even so, I had to cover the eintire broody cage with hardware cloth, using zip ties.

 

[SPRING CREEK FARM]

I have no problem whatsoever in killing a snake that has invaded my chicken's space! I have seen and killed 4 or 5 already this year. We live on a big farm and they have plenty of barns and outbuildings to hang out around and plenty of woods as well as pasture. The last one we killed 2 days ago had a few eggs inside of it, no doubt eggs that were stolen from my little hens or pheasants.

 

[Jeeper1540]

im sorry. i havent had problems with snakes, and i hope i never do.

 

[chicmom]

I am sorry! DARN VARMITS!

 

[speckledhen]

I'm sorry, Robin! Was it chicken wire?

 

[Pumpkinpup]

Quote:
Yeah, Cyn. I used the one inch chicken wire and was shocked that such a large snake still managed to get in! This sucker was as long as I am tall and thicker than my wrist at the narrowest point!
Looks like a hardware cloth upgrade is called for, sigh.......